Processing canned goods



May 6, 1924..

A. R. THOMPSON PROCESSING CANNED GoDs Filed Nov. '7, 1923 INVENTOR mf V mi,

ATTORNEYS Patented May 6,l 1924.

UNi'rEo vSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT R. THOMPSON, O'F SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO ANDERSON-BARN- GROVER MFG. CO., 4SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

YROCESSING CANND GOODS.

Application led November 7, 1923. Serial No. 673,393.

To all lwhom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT R. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and 6 State of California, have `invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processing Canned Goods, of which the following is a speciication.

My invention relates to the art or' process- 10 ing canned goods, in which a heating eiect is followed by a cooling effect, the sealed, product-filled cans being passed in continuous procession through said effects.

The purpose of these eiects and the methods of applying them arewell known, and vary to a certain extent with the particular products being treated. With these matters my invention is concerned only 1n so far as they, in a generic way comprise steps in my method and elements in my apparatus.

The object of my invention is to provide effectively and economically both in time and labor, for the separation of the leaks from the tight cans in any of the forms of processing canned goods, employingl a heating effect followed by a cooling ei'ect, to the end that the complete processin maybe successful in that the product as nally def livered may consist wholly of tight cans, 3o which can, therefore, be conveyed immediately to the labeling machine, packed 1n cases and placed in the car for shipment, thus avoiding the customary long time interval, waitin for the development of leaksv; it being necessary at present to stack the cans sometimes for as long as three weeks, for such development.

In the heating effect of the processing of sealed canned goods, the increase 'of internal 40 pressure due to the vapor expansion within the can, has the eiect of bulging the ends of a tight can; whilewith a leak, no such bulging results, or at least, not to the same extent, since the internal pressure excess is relieved through the leak. This dierence in end-bulge can be taken advantage of as the cans leave the heating effect, to automatically and without interruption of the can procession, separate the leaks from tight cans. In the cooling eiect to which a procession of supposedly tight cans only is continuously directed, a curious inversion takes lace, as will now be seen. The cooling e ect, for a purpose now well known is l Although we have assumed that the can procession directed to the cooling eEect consists of tight cans only, this is by nomeans conclusive, and in practise, it is found that some leaks for causes which need not be explained, get by the iirst segregation and pass into the cooler, or leaks may subsequently develop in the cooling effect. In this cooling region, however, two salient results take place. The first is that the really tight cans, under the reduced temeprature lose their end bulge., The second, is that the leaky cans admit the excess of luid pressure through their leaks, so that the pressure internally and externally is equalized. Then, as the cans -pass out from the cooler, -the tights have no endbulge, but the leaks being released from the external pressure, while still under internal pressure, (since the excess internal pressure does not immediately leak out) at once bulge their ends; and opportunity is thus aorded for speedily and without interruption of the can procession, again segregating the leaks from the tights according to the dierence of end bulge. It will thus be apparent that a complete method is provided for processing can goods in such wise that practically all the leaks are separated from the tight cans and the latter may without loss of time be labeled, cased, and shipped. My method may, therefore, be stated briey to comprise passing the i cans in continuous procession through a heating region, then through a region 1n which the cans are segregated according toa difference in end-bulge; then passing the end-bulged cans through a cooling region under Huid pressure above atmospheric; and 'then through a region in which the cans are again segregated according to `a difference in end-bulge.

My apparatus consists inl an organized means adapted to carry out the successive steps of sald method. Referring to the accompanying drawings- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my apparatus, partly broken in the upper iportion, of the can-selecting member of eac of the segregating eli'ects.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

1 are'supporting beams. 2 is a box orY shell, through which Ythe cans pass and inn which they are heated. The can advancing means within the box and the means for applying heat are not herein shown, as these may be f any character, and are well known in the canning4 art. 3 isa chuteleading from the discharge ofthe box l. 4 is a can-selecting member mounted for rotation by "means of a shaft 5 journaled in boxes 6 and driven by a pulley 7. The selecting member 4 comprises s aeed disks, the inner opposing faces of whic are parallel at their inner zones as shown at 4 and areflared or relatively divergent at their outer zones, as shown at 4". Theioor 3 of the chute 3 leads through between the disks, traverses .their parallelwalled inner region Y4 and forms beyond said disks the Hoor of the lower delivery chute 8.

An upper delivery chute 9 has its tloor 9 passing in between the disks in their flaringwalled region 4 and terminates on a line at the base of said region about at the beginning of its upper descending quadrant. The chute 9 leads to and communicates with .a box or shell l1 constituting a cooling effect. The means 'for coolin and for advancing the cans through seid box ll are not herein shown, as these are features well known in the art. But I have shown a necessary feature, namely a means indicated at 11 fer supplying compressed air io said lcooler, whereby it is kept under fluid pressure above atmospheric.

Associated with the can discharge from said cooling box 11 is a can separating device similar in all particulars tc the separating device which 1s associated with the discharge from the heating box 2. This device may be briefly descri d as follows:-

12 is the chute leading directly from the cooler box. 13 is Ithe rotatable can-selecting member with its shaft 14, shaft boxes 15 and driving pulley 16. At 13 is the inner parallel zone of the selecting member and at 13 is the flared outer zone thereof.V 12 is the floor of chute 12, which passes through the inner zone 13 and forms the Boor of the lower delivery chute 17. 18 is the upper delivery chute, with its floor 18' associated with the Haring zone 13".

The method carried out in is as r'ollowsz--s The product-filled, sealed cans are passed this apparatus through the heating'box 2 in continuous procession. Under the temperature in thisrbox, the tight cans bulge their ends, while the leaks do not. In employing these aiiirmative and negative expressions throughout this specification it must be understood that both are open to some latitude, the extent ofthe bulge in the-tights varying and the absence of bulge in the Vleaks being relative, since some leaks may slightly bulge; but on the' whole the difference in end bulge is,

Maase? in practise, aifactor which may be taken advantage of inthe segregation step.

Thejcans, both tights and leaks, discharging from the heating box 2 into the chute 3 are in Fig. 1 indicated without distinction, thel numeral 10. When, however, a tight can indicated by 10 reaches the disks of t'he selectingrmember 4, it passes into the fiaring outer region 4 and on acccuntof its bulging ends it becomes lightly wedged in said region as seen in Fig. 2, and cannot down therein below the functional level of the fioor of the upper delivery chute 9, so that when, by the rotation of the disks, it

.reaches said door it will pass out intosaid chute, asseen in*Y Fig. l.:

But when a .leak indicated byl 10" reaches the disks of the selecting member 4, it will, on account of its lesser-bulging or non-bulging ends pass freely across he tiaringregion 4" of the disks and will continue along the floor 3',across'the parallel inner region 4' of the disks and across the opposite side of the flaring region and into the lower delivery chute 8, as seen in Fig. 1. The tight cans 10 continue Without interrupti-on, through the chute 9 and enter the cooling box il. In this box they are cooled under pressure. In cooling, the bulge in the ends et the cans disappears.- But, there always thev possibility and in practise, it sometimes happens, that some few cans which have been passed in the first segrega;

tion as tight cans, are. in fact leaks;or

such leaks may develop in the cooling elect. In the cooling box air enters such leaks and thus equaizes the external and internal pressure upon such cans and their ends remain non-bulged while in the cooler. Butv lecting member 13, it passes into the Haring outer region 13" and cnaccount of its bulging ends, it becomes lightly wedged therein as seen in Fig. 3 and cannot, ass down below the functional level of the door of the `upper delivery chute 18, so that when by um rotation of the disks, it reaches said floor it will pass out into the chute as shown in Fig. 1.

But the tight cans 10', with their nonbulging ends will pass into the lower delivery chute 17, and these cans" will be directed at once t0 the. labeling machine.

I claim:

1. The method of processing canned goods comprising passing product-filled sealed calls in continuous procession through a heating region; then passing said prccession 13 through a region in which the cans are automatically segregated according to a difer-A ence in end-bulge; then passing in continuous procession the end-bulged cans to and through a cooling 'on which is under fluid pressure greater t an atmospheric; and

. finally passing said procession through a.

region 1n which the cans are aga-in automatically se egated according to a diierence in endulge.

2. An apparatus for' processing' canned goods comprising a heating box through which product-filled sealed cans are p means associated with he discharge l# said box for receiving said cans and anw matically segregatingthem according to. a difference in end-bulge, and passing the endl bul cans forward; a'cooling box to which sai segregatin means passes said endbulged cans an through which the;7 means for maintaining v'in said coohng box a' fluid pressure above atmospheric; and means associated with the disc arge from said coo box for'receiving the cans and automatica l rf-g a difference 1n end ulge.- e

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. y

- ALBERT R. THOMPSON.

pass; l20` g ting them according to 25- 

